Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club Reviews

We have been staying at both Marriott Ocean and Surf Clubs for a few years. Both are great resort. We've found Ocean Club more to our liking. It's more upscale than Surf and not crowded at all. We try to stay at the Ocean Club a few weeks per year. It's more expensive than Surf but its well worth it.

We just spent a week at Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club. Is a beautiful resort and we could not find a single thing to complain about. Taxi from the airport to the resort was $25.00. We rented a beach hut every day for $15.00 per day. Is money well spent. The pool area is beautiful and spacious. The resort is beautiful. The landscaping is out of this world. The word "paradise" kept going thru my mind. Food and drinks reasonably priced. We had maid service one day of the week and that was fine. The condos have everything you need. My only wish would be that they had a washer and dryer. But there are washer and dryers on each floor. Many restaurants to choose from. Casinos aren't vegas style and I don't think you would ever really win much if anything on the machines, but it was fun. Drinks are free if you are playing. There is a grocery store nearby, for $15 taxi ride. Our driver waited for us while we grocery shopped. We made sure it was worth his while, since he was so nice in offering. The airport doesn't open until 7 am, so if you have an early flight, don't make the mistake we did, in getting there at 6:30. The airport is very nice with quite a few shops and restaurants. We had a view of the Iguana sanctuary-which was nice. Lots of visible security, so we never felt that safety was an issue. I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone. Its absolutely beautiful, very clean. The beach is beautiful, one of the best places we have ever been and we have been to alot of places. Very family oriented. Loved it!

Without a doubt one of the best locations in the Caribbean! Aruba is safe and has a dedicated and friendly staff. The Ocean Club is perfect for families too. We have been 10 times. The restaurants are five star too. Enjoy!

We have been very pleased with the resort in total. Beach is reserved for Ocean Club owners and guests and not crowded like Surf Club's beach. Gorgeous property. Great for families or a couples getaway.

BEEN THERE FOR 10 YEARS SOME YEARS A MONTH AT A TIME , THE PLACE IS SUPER

We've had the opportunity to stay at the Marriott Ocean Club Resort 5 times with our family &/or friends & have thoroughly enjoyed it each time...some of our best vacations ever. So many things to do & so close to everything. Just walk outside to the pool or beach & a short drive or taxi ride into town.

I really depend on these reviews, to help me make a decision on my destination, so here goes. The resort is very good, no problems except the "beach". We have been to quite a few Caribbean islands at Christmas time and I have never been so disappointed in a beach in all the times we have traveled. It is so crowded that there is nothing beautiful or relaxing about it! We have never seen so many cabanas and every one of them packed with chairs and people all day long. The beach water is also disgusting! The so called beach appears "man made". If you really want to spend your money and time at a typical beautiful tropical beach, do not stay at this resort.

A beautiful resort and beach with a very friendly staff.

Visited the week of June 7th. It was a fabulous property. We were very happy with our stay at the Ocean Club.

Staff very friendly and efficient.

D and L. Piteo

I visit Aruba Ocean Club two or three times a year. It is always a pleasure staying at this 5 star resort. I have been to many other Caribbean islands but none of them come close to Aruba's Ocean Club. The people there can't do enough for you. They are far the nicest and most polite people I have ever met. The island is safe to walk around in any time of the day, or night. There are a few Supermarkets on the island that are very big and clean and offer everything we have back home. The drinking water, is one of the most delicious water that I have ever tasted and the food is out of this world. Marriott Ocean Club, has the largest rooms on the island. This island, has every convenience that we have in the States. There is something for everyone in the family, you never get bored. There are water sports for adults and children, fishing, parasailing, snorkling, horseback ridding and one of the biggest Casinos on the island is right next door. Across the street, there is a newly built plaza with restaurants, shops and a nice movie theater. The beaches are clean, long and beautiful and the weather is perfect with always a nice breeze. The resort's rooms are absolutely gorgeous and the best part is, that Aruba is only 4 hours from Newark airport. There is nothing negative to be said about this resort, only that you can't find anywhere better than this as a package deal.

This resort is absolutely perfect!!!!

Julie A.

My family prefers the Ocean Club to either the hotel, or the Surf Club, because it is approx 25% the size of the Surf Club, and quieter than either the hotel or the Surf. The advantage is that you are in an uncrowded resort (especially around the pool), situated in between the other two resorts whose facilities you may use. The hotel has the best casino on the island, the spa is at the ocean club and all 3 resorts offer a variety of restaurants in every price range. All of Marriott's Aruba properties are beautiful and well maintained. I own at both the Ocean Club and the Surf club. You can't go wrong with Aruba, and Marriott has the best places on the island. Walk along the beach and you can easily access all the other hotels, their restaurants and casinos.

I just returned from the Ocean Club and found it to be delightful. The units are modern, clean and well maintained as usual. The only drawback I noticed is that they have cut back on the daily exchange of towels both in your rooms and at the towel hut. There is a once a week cleaning of your room (free of charge) with clean towels provided. Any additional requests for clean room towels are for a fee. At the end of the day the towel hut always ran out of towels so often you would have to wait in line the next morning for a clean beach towel. All in all the stay was nice and the weather was beautiful. Unfortunately Aruba is getting busier each year with more & more buildings and stores popping up everywhere. It's starting to loose a little of its appeal because of that.

I've been an owner at the Aruba Ocean Club for 8 years. My family and I look forward to our time there year after year. There is always something fun to do; lots of water activities along the beautiful beach, site seeing, horse back riding, ATV's, snorkeling and scuba diving, boating, fishing, great resturants, night activities, casinos and of course lots of sunshine :) The timeshares are very roomy, clean and beautifully decorated. You won't be disappointed.

I have had great vacations here. The lazy river pool allows you to spend the day floating in the water or head down to the beach to float in ocean water. I love the short walk to the hotel for great Sushi in the lobby.

Just returned from an excellent week at the Marriott. My 1 BR unit was huge, clean and had an awesome view. Staff could not have been more pleasant or efficient. The system they use for the palapas (beach huts) works well. You can either reserve an odd numbered unit for up to 3 days for a small fee, or use one of the even numbered ones on a first-come basis. There always seemed to be enough huts.

Many people have mentioned the cost of food being exceptionally high. I disagree after traveling extensively throughout the islands. In fact, I thought there were more reasonably prices choices than many other resorts, plus, you have a kitchen if you do not choose to go out for every meal. Beach area was quieter than the pool area, but neither were particularly loud. I found the resort very relaxing and I would return there for sure.

Stayed here in March 2009 and had a great time. The property and unit was clean and the staff was friendly. Was very glad I choose the Ocean Club rather than the Surf Club. For me, being able to get a beach hut each morning was important. You have plenty of space so you are not on top of your neighbor at the beach.

I struggled chosing between the Surf Club and Ocean Club. While the Surf Club is newer and some consider cosmetically nicer, be prepared to be packed in like sausages on the beach or at the pool. It appears the surf club overbuilt for the amount of frontage they have.

The Ocean Club was just a little more laid back and fewer screaming little ones than the Surf Club. If you have a young family they will enjoy the Lazy river at the Surf Club.

Be prepared food is very, very expensive in Aruba.

That being said it was a nice trip.

We just came back from a week-long vacation at Mariott's Ocean Club. I loved everything there: the property was amazing, the staff was very friendly and helpful, it was clean and whatever we had to be done was done. they have a person there who reserves all your trips and makes restaurants arrangements. The front desk people were very friendly and tried to help us as much as possible. The room that we had was specious and bright, it had a partial ocean view, but we didn't spend that much time in the room anyway. We travelled with a 2.5 year-old toddler, you don't need to bring a crib and a high chair-they give it to you. The kitchen was fully stacked and they have a supermarket nearby and it has anything you wish for: American and local stuff. We rented a car for the duration of our trip, and i recommend you doing the same. It's not that much a day, but you have freedom to go anywhere any time. Cob costs about $6-10 each way, but the car cost us about $27 a day, which we thought was a good deal, especially with the child. PArking is free or it costs very little. The beach was clean and we didn't have a problem reserving palapas, they were always available. Overall it was an great vacation and I would definately return to Aruba and Marriott.

When I booked this trip I was a bit skeptical of Aruba for my kids as I thought there wasn’t much to see or do here, and the airfare to get here was too expensive for a relaxing vacation….Was I ever wrong!

We stayed in the Marriott Ocean Club, a beautiful resort with all the amenities of a Hotel. The only other large resort developer on the Island is named Divi Aruba, who had just as nice accomadations, but there site was a little more spread out. Marriott’s site has all the restaurants, entertainment, beaches, and other amenities just a short walk away.

We rented a car (which I suggest) and chose to take Avis insurance because if you damage a car in Aruba, you have to pay for the damages before you leave and get reimbursed by your insurance company when you return to the states.

We arrived at the resort and got placed in room 5273 which was on the 2nd floor of the main building, it was a “garden view” in which we had a great view of the pool and if we turned our heads to the left we could see the beach. Our room was a 1br, with a 2 person Jacuzzi tub, 2 person shower, and a sleeper sofa. The kitchen had granite counters and a breakfast bar. The resort had a great pool, although you couldn’t use the pool at the Marriott Surf club, I didn’t mind as the Ocean Club was MUCH less crowded and congested and had a more cozy feel to it than the Surf Club. The beach was riddled with covered huts called Palapas with beach lounge chairs under them, and if you wanted one in the morning you could just reserve it for free. However, I was always able to get a front row palapas no matter if I reserved one or not. We packed seasoned meat that I froze, and pre-cooked Minute Maid rice for dinner. I also pre-ordered online eggs, ham, cheese, bread and milk for our breakfast, that we picked up from the onsite market when we arrived. It was already packed and ready to go. My first evening here we just relaxed by the beach, watching the sunset and drinking a Pina Colada…yum.

We went to the beach, packed a picnic lunch & drinks from our room and dipped in the beach (my 1 complaint about this resort and this part of Aruba was the sand was HARD, with lots of crushed seashells and if you didn’t wear swim shoes you could cut your feet). The beach water temp was warm and blue, with pirate ships, wind surfers, and other water sports right onsite and in view. They had a band playing in the background, and iguanas roamed freely. The onsite casino, which we didn’t feel paid out to well, and they had high bet minimums at the tables (we play black jack) starting at $10. So we went up the road to the Alahambra casino that paid out well and we could play black jack for $5 a hand.

The large gym rivals some gyms you may pay for a membership to join, then went out to explore some of Aruba on our own. Mostly everything in Aruba will be closed on Sunday. A short walk down the beach will take you to the bar called Moombas for drinks. Dinner at Smokey Joes, a fantastic rib joint, where the rib dish was about $15 and they had these great Jaimacan beef patties…yum yum.

They usually had another band playing all day, and you can make dinner reservations for Madam Jeanette’s a cozy, romantic Carribean / dutch restaurant. They have pastries and ice cream at the elaborate snack bar in the casino. Definately reserv the 8 hour jeep tour (which is the best tour for you $ at 79 pp and includes a great lunch and all the sites the Island has to offer in 1 swoop). We went on the tour with ABC for the 8 hr tour of Aruba that covered the natural pool, baby beach, the oldest catholic church in Aruba, the caves, ostrige farm, old gold mines, the natural bridge and the lighthouse…definitely well worth every penny! We came back the room and had dinner at Simply Fish (a restaurant on Marriott property), located on the beach at the Marriott where we were staying. We enjoyed the dinner, location, and the service.

Don't leave without stopping at Linda’s Pancakes for a late brunch…YUM… YUM… then we turned in the car, went flew home.

Definitely a do over vacation! The Marriott Aruba Ocean Club far exceeded our expectations and is a definite do over.

Have stayed at The Aruba Ocean Club several times and love it more each time we stay. We purchased here 7 years ago and are very happy with the resort. The beach is beautiful, the pool area is not crowded and we feel safe whenever we stay at The Ocean Club.

We have gone every year for the past 7 years. No other place on the island can compare. The staff is exceptional and always willing to go the extra mile to make everyone happy!!1

We love the Marriott Ocean Club, smaller and more cosy than the Surf Club but with the same amenities. Great for families or couples.

We just returned from the Aruba Ocean Club and liked the facility very much with one exception - out of control kids running up and down the hallway and slamming doors at all hours of the day and night. Running kids everywhere including the pool area, etc. Other than that, we loved it. We will definitely go again, maybe at a quieter time than during the week after New Year's Eve!!

Stayed at the Ocean Club December 1-8, 2006. This is a very nice resort and we enjoyed it very much. Because of its more intimate atmosphere, I actually liked it more than the Marriot Surf Club next door.

I would most definitely return to the Marriot Ocean Club in the future.

We sent our daughter and new son-in-law here for their honeymoon in August of this year. They had nothing but great things to say about the facilities, and the usual excellant service from the Marriott staff.

As a matter of fact - my daughter is pretty picky and she had absolutely nothing bad to say about the entire experience!

She has convinced us to exchange our week another year (our home resort is Cypress Harbor) for ourselves... 8-))

Just came back from our 7th trip to Aruba in June 2006. love the island the people the weather the food especially the Marriot Ocean club try Simply Fish right on the Marriott beach for a sunset show and dinner.

The best in Aruba.....

We have stayed and bought at the Marriott Ocean Club and absolutely LOVE IT!! It's a beautiful resort and the ammenties are wonderful along with the service and people. It's a truly a beautiful resort!

One of the best places to stay in Aruba. Great beach, lovely shops, beautiful rooms, wonderful views. Only negative was that the rooms are not ready on time. Had to wait 1 1/2 hours past check in. Don't come early.

Outstanding resort! Units recently done over. Staff very friendly to guests. Outstanding pool, and super nice beach with lots of water activities at your doorstep. Guests can use the facilities of the Marriott hotel on one side and the Marriott Surf Club on the other side. Parking is free if you rent a car. I will go back in a minute.

Wonderfull place. Always breezy, sand does not get too hot, no waves, beautiful water, friendly people, mostly U.S. visitors, no poverty, everyone speaks english, Can use U.S. dollars everywhere, little crime, no political problems. If you buy here, you can exchange for anywhere easily! You can't beat it! Rick

You can not get a better resort , This is Aruba,s finest

We have stayed here on two occasion's. It is without a doubt one of the finest timeshares in Aruba. This is a typical 5 Star Marriott facility. Plus you get an added bonus - it is right next door to the Marriott Hotel and Casino. As a guest at the timeshare you get to use all of the facilities of the hotel and have charge-card privlages. If you haven't been to Aruba - then you must go! It's a wonderful island, great restaurants and the locals are dedicated to your having a wonderful stay.

We were there in the middle of construction and it was still a great place to be. I am sure it is even nicer now. Aruba is worth the airfare. If you get this property any time of year it is a good exchange.